Serepa immediately stepped back, placing herself between Gabrielle and her daughter. She did not lift her gaze from the ground; her body trembled.
—Mr. Roma, I… I’m so sorry. I really am. The pineapple was jailed and I could lose my job, so I hid her, but she got out. Please, please don’t fire me. I’ll clean the whole hotel for free. I…
—Silence— said Gabrielle, softly.
Serepa closed her mouth, her blood freezing. She braced herself for screams, for her to call security, for her to be thrown out into the freezing cold. But Gabrielle walked slowly toward them. She was enormous, emanating a dark energy that made it hard to breathe.
He looked at the terrified mother, the worn-out biform hanging from her overly thin body… and then at the pineapple, which peeked bravely out from behind Serepa’s legs.
Gabrielle put her hand in her pocket. Serepa flinched, expecting a radio. But she pulled out a pristine white handkerchief. She knelt down to be at Lily’s height. With unexpected gentleness, she wiped the chocolate stain from her cheek. Then she stood up, and her dark eyes finally locked onto Serepa’s wet, terrified gaze.
For a long moment, the silence was deafening.
He saw the deep dark circles under her eyes, the raw panic of a mother pushed to the limit of survival. Something completely strange moved in her chest.
—What’s your name? —asked Gabrielle, with her usual deadly edge.
—Serena —she managed to say.
—Serepa Jeпkiпs —he stammered, awaiting the final blow.
Gabrielle didn’t call security. She didn’t fire her. Instead, she looked at her with an unreadable expression and said words that would change everyone’s lives:
—You’re not fired, Serena Jekis. But you’re going to sit down. Both of you. You look like you’re about to faint in my lounge.
Serena’s legs buckled and she fell into a velvet chair, pulling Lily onto her lap. She felt she was dreaming. Gabrielle Roma, the man said to be able to destroy a rival syndicate with a single order, was asking his terrifying enforcer to bring milk and cookies.
Leo, the enormous bodyguard who was returning from checking the perimeter, blinked twice, completely confused.
“Boss… do you want me to go to the kitchen?” he grumbled cautiously.
—Yes, Leo. Milk and cookies. Okay —Gabrielle ordered, leaving no room for discussion.
When Leo left in a hurry, Gabrielle sat on the sofa facing Serepa and interlaced her fingers, sizing her up. Serepa felt exposed under that gaze. She was aware of the frayed hem of her dress, her worn shoes, the wear and tear on her hands.
—Now—said Gabrielle, with a low, firm voice that dominated the room—. Tell me why a mother has to secretly put her daughter in a restricted area of a luxury hotel just to avoid losing her job.
Serepa swallowed, her throat dry.
—I… I had no choice, Mr. Roma. The landlady, Mrs. Gable, got sick. I have no family here. I have no one. If I’m absent, Breda will fire me. If she fires me, we lose the apartment. We lose everything.
—And the father? —asked Gabrielle, and the temperature of the place seemed to drop.
Serepa looked away. Shame and anger rose in her chest.
—Derek. He left two years ago. He had a terrible gambling addiction. He blew our savings, opened credit cards in my name, and disappeared at night to escape the debt collectors. Since then, I’ve been crawling out of the grave he left us in.
Gabrielle processed everything in silence. In her world, debts were paid with blood. Loyalty was everything. To sacrifice one’s own blood was a sin that turned her stomach.
He looked at Lily, who was tracing the floral drawing on a silk cushion, oblivious to the conversation.
At that moment, Gabrielle’s “burner” cell phone vibrated. She looked at the encrypted message. Her jaw tightened. It was from her uncle: Doп Viппzo Romaпo .
Vicezo was the aging patriarch and controlled the only thing Gabrielle needed: the “legal” pavian empire. For five years, Gabrielle had tried to lift the Roma family out of the sacrilegious underworld and into legitimate, untouchable wealth. But Vicezo was old school. He wasn’t going to sign multi-million dollar contracts for a “rootless” bachelor. He demanded stability. He demanded a family man.
Gabrielle had exactly 48 hours left before the family summit. If she arrived alone, Vincezzo would hand the empire over to Silas, Gabrielle’s brutal cousin, a butcher who would return the city to chaos.
Gabrielle looked at Serepa again. She saw the ferocity with which she protected her daughter. She saw a woman cornered, desperate, if she connected with some kind of mafia world. A blank sheet.
—Serepa— said Gabrielle, leaning forward. —How much do you owe in total? To clear your ex’s debts and secure a safe place to live.
Serena blinked.
—No… I don’t know exactly. Maybe over $40,000. But why?
“I’ll pay for it,” Gabrielle interrupted. “All of it. Today. I’m also going to open an irrevocable trust for Lily, so her education is covered through college. And I’m going to get them out of the hole they’re surviving in and move them into a safe pet house.”
A Sereпa se le parató el corzóп.
—¿Qυé?
“You’re right. I don’t give things away,” Gabrielle said seriously. “I make deals. And right now I urgently need a fiancée.”
Serena backed away.
—¿Una qυé? ¿Una promessada? ¿Una futυra esposa?
Gabrielle said it as if she were talking about the weather.
—My family controls a huge conglomerate. To take it over, I need to prove to my traditionalist uncle that I’m establishing myself. I need a woman by my side at family events, to smile for cameras and feign devotion. You need money and protection. I need a partner, a confidante, and no problems… someone who won’t try to stab me in the back to steal territory.
“Do you want me to marry a mafia boss?” Serepa gasped. “No. I can’t. I just want to clean rooms and go home. I’m not going to expose my daughter to criminals and… violence. Thanks for not running me away, Mr. Roma, but I’m leaving.”
Gabrielle didn’t hesitate to stop her. He just watched her pick up Lily and run away. He knew that outside the world was much crueler than the refuge he offered.
—The offer is valid for 24 hours, Serena—he called softly when she opened the door—. Be careful out there.
The return trip on the subway felt twice as long. Serepa trembled, her mind repeating Gabrielle Romaño’s insidious proposal: fake fiancée, trust, debts erased as if nothing had happened. It was the perfect temptation for someone hungry. But Serepa wasn’t stupid. She saw news. She knew that getting close to the Romaños was like putting a bullet in her back.
He hugged Lily tighter as they walked four blocks from the station to the old building on the south side. The streetlights flickered, casting long, dark shadows.
—Mommy, why did we leave the castle? —asked Lily, with her head resting on her shoulder—. The kind gentleman gave me a cookie.
—Because it wasn’t your castle, baby —Serepá murmured, racing—. We have to go to your house.
But when he reached the fourth floor, his blood ran cold. The door to 4B was wide open. The cheap wooden frame was splintered, hanging by a hinge.
Serepa remained motionless. Every city official shouted for her to run, but she didn’t know where to go.
He approached slowly and poked his head out.
The apartment was wrecked. The sofa had ripped cushions; the stuffing was spilling out like snow. The TV was smashed to pieces on the floor. The few dishes I had were broken in the sink.
In the middle of the chaos, smoking as if he were in his living room, stood the man of his worst nightmares: Mick “The Razor” O’apo , a brutal loan shark who had been chasing Derek. Beside him were two tattooed thugs with stilettos.
“Look at that,” Mick mocked, exhaling a puff of smoke. “Finally, you’re home. It was so hard to find you, Serepa.”
Serepa pushed Lily behind her legs.
“Mick,” he said, trembling. “I already told him… I don’t know where Derek is.”
Mick stood up, crushed the cigarette on the carpet.
“I don’t care, Derek. Derek’s debt is now your debt. With interest, you owe me 50,000 dollars. And my boss is already getting desperate.”
“I don’t have 50,000!” Serepa blurted out, on the verge of tears. “I’m a chambermaid. Look at this place. Do you think I’ve hidden money in this garbage dump?”
Mick took a step, predator. He looked at the pineapple.
—Maybe you don’t have cash… but a pretty woman can “work it”. Or… we take the pineapple as a guarantee of what you get.
A Serepa let out a visceral scream.
—Don’t even touch her!
One of the bullies lashed out, grabbed her arm, and slammed her against the wall. Serena screamed in pain. Lily started crying, calling for her mom.
—Grab the pineapple —Mick ordered casually.
The second killer stretched out his hand. His fingers closed around Lily’s arm.
Suddenly, a shadow filled the frame of the broken door. Before Mick could turn around, a huge hand grabbed his hand and lifted him off the floor as if he weighed nothing.
—¡Sυelta a la пiña! —retυmbó Ѕпa voz profυпda.
Serena gasped.
It was Leo.
A tailored suit, completely out of place in that destroyed apartment, but with eyes filled with mortal curiosity. The man who was with Lily froze.
—I won’t repeat myself—Leo warned, pulling out a Glock silencer and pointing it between his eyes.
The man released Lily immediately. Lily ran towards Serena, sobbing, and Serena hugged her desperately.
Leo threw Mick onto the chair, torn to shreds. Mick crawled back, clutching his throat. He recognized Leo. Everyone in the low world recognized him.
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